Consolidation and monitoring of consumed content

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and computer readable media can be operable to facilitate the generation of an interface showing content being consumed by a group of devices. A central device may gather secondary streams of content consumed by each device within the group of devices, and the secondary streams may be used to generate an interface comprising thumbnails showing content consumed by the device associated with the respective thumbnail. Secondary streams of content may be generated at the central device or may be retrieved by the central device from a client device serviced by the central device.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to monitoring content being consumed.

BACKGROUND

Content continues to be made available for consumption on a multitude ofvarious devices. Users typically have the capability to access contentat a plurality of devices within a subscriber premise and the contentmay be provided to a user through various transmission standards andmediums. For example, users may receive content such as broadcasttelevision content (e.g., content delivered to a plurality ofsubscribers over one or more downstream channels), video-on-demand (VoD)content, streaming content (e.g., YouTube, Netflix, web-page contentetc.), recorded content (e.g., content stored at a digital videorecorder (DVR)), and other types of content. Users may consume (e.g.,receive, display, record, otherwise interact with, etc.) content throughvarious devices such as a set-top box (STB), television, computer,tablet, mobile device, gaming device, and others. With the continuedgrowth and mixture of content consuming devices within a premise, it isdesirable to improve upon systems and methods for monitoring contentbeing consumed within the premise.

Generally, a home network provides multiple services to a subscriber,and the multiple services are often being accessed by a subscriber atthe same time. For example, a subscriber might be viewing a broadcasttelevision show through a STB, while a gateway device records a program.At the same time, another member of the subscriber's family might beviewing a different broadcast television show through a different STB,or streaming a movie through a Netflix application on a mobile device.While the subscriber's home network is carrying out this plurality offunctions, the subscriber is unable to monitor everything that the homenetwork is doing. Therefore, it is desirable to improve upon methods andsystems for monitoring content consumed by a group of devices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example network environmentoperable to facilitate the display of a consolidation of content beingconsumed by a group of shared devices.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example central deviceoperable to facilitate the display of a consolidation of content beingconsumed by a group of shared devices.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example process operable tofacilitate the display of a consolidation of content being consumed by agroup of shared devices.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of an example interface operable to facilitatethe display of a consolidation of content being consumed by a group ofshared devices.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a hardware configuration operable tofacilitate the display of a consolidation of content being consumed by agroup of shared devices.

Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicatelike elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It is desirable to improve upon methods and systems for monitoringcontent consumed (e.g., received, displayed, recorded, otherwiseinteracted with, etc.) by a group of devices. The methods, systems, andcomputer readable media described in this disclosure can be operable tofacilitate the generation of an interface showing content being consumedby a group of devices. A central device may gather secondary streams ofcontent consumed by each device within the group of devices, and thesecondary streams may be used to generate an interface comprisingthumbnails showing content consumed by the device associated with therespective thumbnail. Secondary streams of content may be generated atthe central device or may be retrieved by the central device from aclient device serviced by the central device.

Described herein is an interface, a mosaic display, which displays thecontent that a group of devices (e.g., a home system, etc.) is currentlyconsuming at a plurality of terminals. Content may be delivered to theplurality of terminals through a central device (e.g., a gatewaydevice), and the central device can create an overview of all (or asmuch as is possible) the content being currently displayed or beingrecorded within an associated premise. The overview may then bedisplayed to a user by outputting the overview to a client device or anyother display within or outside of the premise.

An embodiment of the invention described herein may include a methodcomprising: (a) identifying at a central device, one or more deviceswithin a group of shared devices; (b) retrieving a secondary stream ofeach piece of content consumed by one or more of the identified deviceswithin the group of shared devices; (c) generating an interfacecomprising one or more thumbnails, wherein each thumbnail is associatedwith one or more of the identified devices within the group of shareddevices, and wherein a retrieved secondary stream associated withcontent consumed by an identified device is output as a display within athumbnail associated with the respective device; and (d) outputting thegenerated interface.

According to an embodiment of the invention, content consumed by one ormore of the identified devices comprises content output from the centraldevice to one or more of the identified devices and content beingrecorded at the central device.

According to an embodiment of the invention, a content stream associatedwith a piece of content consumed by one or more of the identifieddevices is duplicated to create a secondary stream associated with thepiece of content.

According to an embodiment of the invention, content consumed by one ormore of the identified devices comprises content that is received by oneor more of the identified devices without passing through the centraldevice, wherein the secondary stream for each piece of content may beretrieved from the one or more identified devices.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the generated interface isoutput to a device as a Moving Picture Experts Group stream.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the group of shared devicescomprises a plurality of devices serviced by the central device.

An embodiment of the invention described herein may include an apparatuscomprising: (a) a module configured to be used to: (i) identify one ormore devices within a group of shared devices; (ii) retrieve a secondarystream of each piece of content consumed by one or more of theidentified devices within the group of shared devices; and (iii)generate an interface comprising one or more thumbnails, wherein eachthumbnail is associated with one or more of the identified deviceswithin the group of shared devices, and wherein a retrieved secondarystream associated with content consumed by an identified device isoutput as a display within a thumbnail associated with the respectivedevice; and (b) an interface configured to be used to output thegenerated interface.

An embodiment of the invention described herein may include one or morenon-transitory computer readable media having instructions operable tocause one or more processors to perform the operations comprising: (a)identifying at a central device, one or more devices within a group ofshared devices; (b) retrieving a secondary stream of each piece ofcontent consumed by one or more of the identified devices within thegroup of shared devices; (c) generating an interface comprising one ormore thumbnails, wherein each thumbnail is associated with one or moreof the identified devices within the group of shared devices, andwherein a retrieved secondary stream associated with content consumed byan identified device is output as a display within a thumbnailassociated with the respective device; and (d) outputting the generatedinterface.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example network environment100 operable to facilitate the display of a consolidation of contentbeing consumed by a group of devices. In embodiments, video, voice,and/or data services may be delivered to one or more client devices 105.Client devices 105 may include a television, mobile device, tablet,computer, set-top box (STB), gaming device, and any other deviceoperable to receive video, voice, and/or data services. It should beunderstood that various multimedia services may be delivered to theclient devices 105, including but not limited to, live or broadcasttelevision, video-on-demand (VoD) content, pay-per view content,recorded content (e.g., DVR content), audio-only content, and streamingcontent such as YouTube or Netflix content. It should be furtherunderstood that the devices shown in FIG. 1 may be integrated. Forexample, a television may be connected to and controlled by a STB.

Multiple services may be delivered to client devices 105 over a localnetwork 110. The local network 110 may include a local area network(LAN), wireless local area network (WLAN), personal area network (PAN),mobile hotspot network, and others. The local network 110 may beprovided at a subscriber premise by a central device 115. The centraldevice 115 may include a gateway device, modem device, combinationthereof or other access device. It will be appreciated by those skilledin the relevant art that delivery of the multiple services over thelocal network 110 may be accomplished using a variety of standards andformats.

In embodiments, one or more client devices 105 associated with asubscriber and/or premise may be referred to as a group of shareddevices. For example, a group of shared devices may include each of oneor more client devices 105 that are serviced by a common central device115, each of one or more client devices 105 that are associated with acommon subscription, subscriber, and/or premise, one or more othercentral devices 115 (e.g., central devices associated with a commonsubscription, subscriber and/or premise, and client devices 105connected to the central device(s)), and other devices associated withthe subscriber and/or premise.

In embodiments, multiple services (e.g., video, voice, and/or dataservices) may be delivered from a wide-area network (WAN) 120 to thelocal network 110 through a connection to a subscriber network 125. Thesubscriber network 125 may include an optical network, hybrid fibercoaxial (HFC) network, twisted-pair, mobile network, high-speed datanetwork, and others. Multiple systems operator (MSO) devices and/ornetworks within the WAN 120 may be used to provide, manage, and/ortroubleshoot the multiple services provided to subscribers.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the relevant art that clientdevices 105 may be capable of interacting and communicating with eachother and/or with a central device 115 over various wirelesscommunication standards (e.g., Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc.) or wiredcommunication standards (e.g., Ethernet, Multimedia over Coax Alliance(MoCA), etc.). Client devices 105 connected to a local network 110 mayreceive services according to one or more subscriptions entered intobetween a subscriber and service provider.

In embodiments, a client device 105 may be configured to provide asubscriber with an interface for monitoring and/or managing contentreceived and displayed by one or more other client devices 105. Forexample, a subscriber can access an application through a client device105, wherein the subscriber can view other client devices 105 which canbe managed through the application and can identify content beingdisplayed on the other client devices 105.

A subscriber can initiate at a client device 105 or central device 115,an application configured to consolidate and display content recorded,received, and/or displayed at one or more other client devices 105. Inembodiments, when a subscriber initiates the application, a message canbe sent from the initiating client device 105 to a content consolidationapplication. The content consolidation application may generate a mosaicdisplay showing each piece of content being consumed by a group ofshared devices. The content consolidation application may exist at acentral device 115 or at an external device or server (e.g., server ordevice within a premise, server or device within the cloud, etc.).

In response to the message received from the initiating client device105, the content consolidation application can identify and retrievecontent being consumed by a group of shared devices. For example, acentral device 115 can identify each of one or more client devices 105within a group of shared devices associated with the central device 115and/or the subscriber initiating the application.

The central device 115 may store or otherwise access informationassociated with client devices 105 under the control of a subscriber,content provided to the client devices 105, and subscription informationassociated with the client devices 105. It should be understood that theinformation identifying content provided to client devices and/orsubscription information may be located at a network back office (e.g.,server or application connected to the WAN 120), or may be locatedwithin a subscriber premise (e.g., server or application connected tothe local network 110).

In embodiments, the central device 115 can maintain a list of clientdevices 105 that are connected to the central device 115, are servicedby the central device 115, and/or are otherwise associated with a commonpremise, subscription, and/or subscriber. For example, the centraldevice 115 can periodically request connection updates from clientdevices 105 or can receive notification when a client device 105 joinsthe local network 110.

The central device 115 can maintain and/or access current statusinformation associated with each client device 105 (e.g., power state,tuning state, content displayed). For example, the central device 115may periodically request state information and/or tuning/contentinformation from each of the client devices 105 or the central device115 may receive status updates from a client device when the clientdevice experiences a power state change (e.g., powers up or down) orwhen the client device tunes to a different channel or content source.It will be appreciated by those skilled in the relevant art that thecentral device 115 can use various communication techniques and methodsto maintain a current list of client devices and corresponding statusinformation.

The central device 115 can maintain subscription information associatedwith one or more client devices 105 or a subscriber associated with theclient devices 105. For example, the central device 115 may have accessto subscription information (e.g., internally or through a connection toan external server), and can determine what services and/or programmingis available to a client device 105 or subscriber by looking up thecorresponding subscription information.

In embodiments, the content consolidation application can retrieveinformation from a central device 115 and can respond to the initiatingclient device 105 by sending the client device 105 informationassociated with the one or more client devices 105 within the group ofshared devices and content provided to, displayed by, and/or recorded bythe client devices. An interface displayed or output by the initiatingclient device 105 can show each of the one or more client devices 105within the group of shared devices. The interface may also showinformation associated with the content (e.g., program information suchas title, channel, summary, etc.) currently being displayed at each ofthe client devices 105. Each of the client devices 105 may be listedwithin the interface as a thumbnail (e.g., window or tile), and eachthumbnail may be displayed as a screenshot or secondary display ofcontent currently being consumed on the associated client device 105.For example, the interface may display content being output at one ormore of the client devices 105 as the content is being displayed by eachclient device 105. It should be understood that each client device 105may consume (e.g., receive, display, record, etc.) more than one contentstream at any given time.

In embodiments, the central device 115 can identify and capture contentbeing streamed to one or more client devices 105 through the centraldevice 115. The central device 115 can identify broadcast content (e.g.,content received along a downstream channel and routed by the centraldevice 115 to a client device 105) or recorded content (e.g., contentstored locally at the central device 115) that is output from thecentral device 115 to one or more client devices 105. For example, atuner within the central device 115 may be tuned to a channel providingcontent for display at a client device 105. The central device 115 mayduplicate or split the content stream being output from the centraldevice 115 to the client device 105, and the secondary stream (e.g., theduplicated or split content stream) may be used, for example, by acontent consolidation application to display the content through athumbnail associated with the client device. It should be understoodthat the secondary stream may be transcoded or the resolution of thesecondary stream may be otherwise lowered such that a thumbnail image ofthe content may be displayed without over-burdening system resources.For example, a transcoder may be configured to convert a content streaminto a low resolution secondary stream having a lower bitrate than thefull resolution content stream.

In embodiments, the central device 115 may identify and capture Internetprotocol (IP) content that is being output from the central device 115to one or more client devices 105. For example, the central device 115may duplicate or split the IP content stream, and the secondary streammay be used, for example, by a content consolidation application todisplay the content through a thumbnail associated with the clientdevice(s) 105 consuming the content. It will be appreciated by thoseskilled in the relevant art that the secondary stream may be transcodedsuch that the stream can be used by the content consolidationapplication in the generation of the interface.

In embodiments, the central device 115 may determine that IP contentbeing output from the central device 115 to one or more client devices105 is formatted or encrypted such that the central device 115 is unableto generate a secondary stream of the IP content. The central device 115may output a request for a secondary stream of the IP content to one ormore client devices 105 receiving the IP content. In response to therequest for the secondary stream, one or more of the client devices 105can generate and output a secondary stream of the IP content to thecentral device 115. The secondary stream may be a low-resolution stream.

In embodiments, the central device 115 can record and store contentbased on a request received from a user and/or client device 105,wherein the request identifies specific content that is to be recorded.The central device 115 may identify content that is being recorded bythe central device 115 and content that is scheduled to be recorded bythe central device 115, and the central device 115 may identify a clientdevice 105 that requested the content be recorded. For example, a tunerwithin the central device 115 may be tuned to a channel providingcontent that is being recorded. The central device 115 may duplicate orsplit the content stream that is being recorded, and the secondarystream (e.g., the duplicated or split content stream) may be used, forexample, by a content consolidation application to display the contentthrough a thumbnail associated with the central device 115 and/or aclient device 105 that requested the content be recorded. It should beunderstood that the secondary stream may be transcoded or the resolutionof the secondary stream may be otherwise lowered such that a thumbnailimage of the content may be displayed without over-burdening systemresources.

In embodiments, the central device 115 may identify and capture contentthat is being received by one or more client devices 105 through adifferent central device and/or network (e.g., mobile device or tabletreceiving content over a mobile network or high-speed wireless datanetwork). Content received by a client device 105 from a differentcentral device or network may include IP content streamed from awireless data network, content being recorded at different centraldevice, content stored at a location other than the central device 115,content generated by a device within a premise (e.g., security camerafeed), and any other content not being output from the central device115. A central device 115 may sniff home network traffic to identifycontent being received by client devices 105 from a different source. Itwill be appreciated by those skilled in the relevant art that variouscommunication techniques, methods and standards may be used to allow theone or more client devices 105 and central device 115 to communicatewith each other. For example, the one or more client devices 105 canoutput a message to the central device 115 identifying content beingreceived, displayed, and/or recorded by the one or more client devices105.

In embodiments, when retrieving thumbnail content for display within aninterface showing content consumed by a group of shared devices, thecentral device 115 can output a message to each of the client devices105 receiving content from an alternate device or source, wherein themessage requests that the client devices 105 stream or otherwisetransmit consumed content to the central device 115. For example, theclient devices 105 may output a secondary, low-resolution content streamto the central device 115. The client devices 105 may continuouslyoutput a secondary stream to the central device 115, or the clientdevices 105 may output a secondary stream to the central device 115 onlywhen the content consolidation application is active.

In embodiments, an interface showing content consumed by a group ofshared devices may be generated by an external server. The server cangather information associated with content displayed at each clientdevice 105 within the group of shared devices, and the server candeliver the gathered information to a central device 115 and/or a clientdevice 105. The server can generate an interface that includes real-timefeeds of the content being consumed by the group of shared devices, andthe server can output the generated interface to a central device 115and/or a client device 105 (e.g., through a unicast stream). It shouldbe understood that the server may be within a subscriber premise oroutside of the premise (e.g., at a headend, in the cloud, connected tothe WAN 120, etc.).

In embodiments, the interface showing content consumed by a group ofshared devices may be output to the initiating client device 105, or anyother display device, from the central device 115 as a Moving PictureExperts Group (MPEG) stream. For example, the interface may be receivedby a client device 105 when the client device 105 is tuned to a specificchannel that is designated for outputting the interface. The interfacemay be requested by and output to a client device 105 using HypertextTransfer Protocol (HTTP) communications (e.g., HTTP GET, HTTP POST,etc.). It should be understood that the interface showing contentconsumed by the group of shared devices may be retrieved by a deviceoutside of a premises or local network 110 (e.g., a mobile device,tablet, external server/application, etc.).

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example central device 115operable to facilitate the display of a consolidation of content beingconsumed by a group of devices. The central device may be a centraldevice 115, or any other device having an application operable toretrieve content streamed to a group of shared devices and generate adisplay of consolidated content. The central device 115 may include anetwork interface 205, a routing module 210, a client interface 215,recording storage 220, and a consolidated display module 225. Inembodiments, the consolidated display module 225 may reside within thecentral device 115, a client device 105 of FIG. 1, a server orapplication within a premise or local network, a server or applicationwithin an upstream network (e.g., subscriber network 125 of FIG. 1, WAN120 of FIG. 1, etc.), or any other suitable location.

In embodiments, content may be received by a central device 115 througha network interface 205. The central device 115 may receive content froman upstream network (e.g., subscriber network 125 of FIG. 1, WAN 120 ofFIG. 1, etc.), and the received content may include broadcast content,VoD content, IP content, and any other content delivered to the centraldevice 115 over one or more downstream channels or content output fromthe central device 115.

In embodiments, a routing module 210 may route content from one or moredownstream channels to one or more destinations. For example, therouting module 210 may include one or more tuners, and each tuner may betuned to a downstream channel to receive content delivered to thecentral device 115 over the respective downstream channel. Requestedcontent may be streamed from the routing module to a requesting clientdevice through the client interface 215. Content that is to be recordedby the central device 115 may be streamed from the routing module 210into storage at recording storage 220. A client device 105 may requestand receive recorded content from the central device 115, and thecentral device 115 can stream the requested recorded content fromrecording storage 220 to the requesting client device 105 through theclient interface 215.

In embodiments, a consolidated display module 225 may retrieve secondarystreams of content being consumed by devices within a group of shareddevices. The consolidated display module 225 may retrieve a secondarystream of content that is being streamed to one or more client devices105, wherein the secondary stream is split from or is a duplication ofthe content being streamed to the respective client devices 105. Theconsolidated display module 225 may retrieve a secondary stream ofcontent that is being recorded at the central device 115, wherein thesecondary stream is split or is a duplication of the content beingstreamed and stored at recording storage 220. The consolidated displaymodule 225 may retrieve a secondary stream of recorded content that isbeing streamed to one or more client devices 105, wherein the secondarystream is split or is a duplication of the recorded content beingstreamed to the one or more respective client devices 105 from recordingstorage 220.

In embodiments, the consolidated display module 225 may retrievesecondary streams associated with content received by one or more clientdevices 105 from a device and/or network other than the central device115. The consolidated display module 225 may periodically orconditionally output a request for secondary streams to client devices105 through the client interface 215. A client device 105 may output asecondary stream of received content to the central device 115 when theclient device 105 receives content from a device or network other thanthe central device 115. It should be understood that variouscommunication techniques and protocols may be used to establish rulesfor delivering a secondary stream from a client device 105 to a centraldevice 115.

In embodiments, a transcoder within the central device 115 or atranscoder existing at another device may be configured to convert acontent stream into a low resolution secondary stream having a lowerbitrate than the full resolution content stream. It will be appreciatedby those skilled in the relevant art that various techniques fortranscoding may be used, such as decoding and re-encoding into the lowerresolution format, and/or dropping several types of information bits inthe data.

In embodiments, the consolidated display module 225 may generate aninterface displaying content being consumed by a group of shareddevices. The interface may include one or more thumbnails, wherein eachthumbnail is associated with a client device 105 and the thumbnailincludes a display of the content being consumed by the associatedclient device 105. The content displayed within a thumbnail, alsoreferred to herein as thumbnail content, may be a display of a secondarystream of content. It will be appreciated by those skilled in therelevant art that the secondary stream may be formatted using variousprotocols and standards to create a display of the associated contentwithin a thumbnail of the interface.

In embodiments, the consolidated display module 225 may output thegenerated interface to one or more client devices 105 through the clientinterface 215. The interface showing content consumed by a group ofshared devices may be output to the initiating client device 105, or anyother display device, from the central device 115 as a Moving PictureExperts Group (MPEG) stream. For example, the interface may be receivedby a client device 105 when the client device 105 is tuned to a specificchannel that is designated for outputting the interface. The interfacemay be streamed to the client device 105 from the consolidated displaymodule 225 when the client device 105 tunes to the designated channel.The interface may be requested by and output to a client device 105using HTTP communications (e.g., HTTP GET, HTTP POST, etc.).

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example process 300 operable tofacilitate the display of a consolidation of content being consumed by agroup of devices. The process 300 can begin at 305, when a request forinformation associated with content consumed by a group of shareddevices is received from a device (e.g., central device 115 of FIG. 1,client devices 105 of FIG. 1). For example, a central device 115 (e.g.,gateway device, modem device, combination thereof, server, or otheraccess device) can receive the request from a client device 105 via alocal network interface (e.g., local network 110 of FIG. 1), or othernetwork. In embodiments, the request may include information identifyingthe client device from which the request was sent, and one or more otherclient devices associated with the client device. For example, the oneor more associated client devices may include devices within the samegroup of shared devices (e.g., devices having a common premise,subscriber, subscription, etc.).

At 305, one or more devices (e.g., central device 115, client devices105, etc.) that are within a group of shared devices can be identified.The one or more devices within a group of shared devices may beidentified, for example, by the central device 115. In embodiments, thegroup of shared devices can include one or more client devices 105connected to and/or serviced by one or more associated central devices115, and/or one or more client devices 105 associated with a commonsubscription, subscriber, and/or premise. For example, based oninformation received from a requesting device, the central device 115can identify a subscriber associated with the requesting device, and thecentral device 115 can access subscription information to identifyclient devices associated with the subscriber as the one or more clientdevices within the group of shared devices. The central device 115 canuse subscription information to identify a physical address (e.g.,street address) associated with the requesting device, and the centraldevice 115 can identify client devices associated with the physicaladdress as the one or more client devices within the group of shareddevices. The central device 115 can maintain a list of client devices105 that have been and/or that currently are connected to and/orserviced by the central device 115.

At 310, content consumed by the devices within the group of shareddevices can be identified. Content consumed by the devices can beidentified, for example, by the central device 115. Identified contentmay include, for example, broadcast content streamed to one or moreclient devices 105 from the central device 115, recorded content (e.g.,DVR content) output from the central device 115 to one or more clientdevices 105, content being recorded by the central device 115 or by oneor more other devices, IP content being streamed from the central device115 to one or more client devices 105, content being streamed to one ormore client devices 105 from a device and/or network other than thecentral device 115 (e.g., content streamed to a device from a mobilenetwork, content streamed to a client device from storage external tothe central device 115, etc.), and/or other content.

A central device 115 may identify content being received at the centraldevice 115 and streamed from the central device 115 to one or moreclient devices 105. It will be appreciated by those skilled in therelevant art that a client device 105 can communicate with a centraldevice 115 to provide information to the central device 115 identifyingcontent received by the client device 105 from a device and/or networkother than the central device 115. For example, a communication protocolor technique may be used wherein the central device 115 periodicallyqueries client devices 105 for identification of content being received,or a client device 105 informs the central device 115 when a changeoccurs in the content being received by the client device 105.

At 315, thumbnail content can be retrieved for each identified piece ofcontent consumed by the group of shared devices. Thumbnail content mayinclude a secondary stream (e.g., a split or duplicated stream of acontent stream provided to a client device) of content streamed to aclient device 105, and the thumbnail content may be displayed within athumbnail associated with the client device 105 receiving the content.In embodiments, content that is output from the central device 115 to aclient device 105 can be used to generate an interface displayingconsolidated content. For example, the central device 115 can create asecondary stream by splitting or duplicating a content stream that isbeing recorded or output to a client device. A secondary stream may besplit or duplicated from broadcast content received at a central device115 (e.g., broadcast content stream being output from the central device115 to one or more client devices 115, broadcast content stream beingrecorded at the central device 115, etc.), IP content received at acentral device 115, recorded content being streamed from the centraldevice 115 to one or more client devices 105, and any other contentbeing processed by the central device 115. It should be understood thatthe secondary stream may be transcoded or the resolution of thesecondary stream may be otherwise lowered such that a thumbnail image ofthe content may be displayed without over-burdening system resources.

In embodiments, client devices 105 can output displayed content to thecentral device 115 for the central device 115 to use in generating aninterface displaying consolidated content. For example, when a clientdevice 105 receives content from a device and/or network other than thecentral device 115, the client device 105 may create a secondary streamof the received content and output the secondary stream to the centraldevice 115. It should be understood that various communicationtechniques, protocols, and standards may be used such that the centraldevice 115 periodically or conditionally (e.g., upon initiation of aconsolidated content display) receives a secondary stream from one ormore client devices 105 to be included in a display of consolidatedcontent.

At 320, an interface can be generated showing content being consumed bythe group of shared devices. The interface may be generated, forexample, by the central device 115 or server running an application forbuilding a display of consolidated content. In embodiments, theinterface may include information identifying the one or more deviceswithin a group of shared devices, and information identifying contentbeing displayed and/or recorded by each of the one or more devices. Theinterface may include thumbnails (e.g., windows or tiles) for each ofthe one or more devices, and thumbnail content may be displayed withineach window or tile, wherein the thumbnail content is a display ofcontent that is being displayed and/or recorded by the respectivedevice. Thumbnail content may include one or more screenshots of theconsumed content, a segment of video associated with the consumedcontent, or a real-time feed (e.g., secondary stream) of the content asit is being displayed and/or recorded by the respective client device.

At 325, the generated interface may be output to one or more devices. Inembodiments, the interface showing content consumed by a group of shareddevices may be output to an initiating client device 105, or any otherdisplay device, from the central device 115 or display generating serveras a MPEG stream. For example, the interface may be received by a clientdevice 105 when the client device 105 is tuned to a specific channelthat is designated for outputting the interface. The interface may berequested by and output to a client device 105 using (HTTP)communications (e.g., HTTP GET, HTTP POST, etc.).

FIG. 4 is an illustration of an example interface 400 operable tofacilitate the display of a consolidation of content being consumed by agroup of shared devices. The interface 400 may be displayed at a clientdevice (e.g., client device 105 of FIG. 1) or any other display device.In embodiments, the interface 400 may be displayed at a client device105 initiating an application for viewing a consolidation of consumedcontent. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the relevant artthat the interface 400 may be displayed to a subscriber using variousinterface types (e.g., non-interactive display, graphical user interface(GUI), touch-screen interface, etc.).

The interface 400 may include one or more displayed content thumbnails405. Each of the displayed content thumbnails 405 may be associated witha device (e.g., client devices 105 of FIG. 1 such as a set-top box,mobile device, computer, tablet, etc.) that is within a group of shareddevices. In embodiments, each displayed content thumbnail 405 canidentify the client device with which it is associated, and can alsodisplay the content being displayed at the respective client device. Forexample, the content displayed within the thumbnail may be one or morescreenshots of the content being displayed at the client device, asegment of video associated with the content being displayed at theclient device, or a real-time feed (e.g., secondary stream) of thecontent as it is being displayed by the client device.

The interface 400 may include one or more recording content thumbnails410. Each of the recording content thumbnails 410 may be associated witha device (e.g., client devices 105 of FIG. 1 such as a set-top box,mobile device, computer, tablet, etc.) that is within a group of shareddevices. Each of the recording content thumbnails 410 may be associatedwith a device at which content is being recorded and/or a device fromwhich a recording request is initiated. In embodiments, each recordingcontent thumbnail 410 can identify the client device with which it isassociated (e.g., the device at which the content is being recorded, thedevice requesting recording of the content, etc.), and can also displaythe content being recorded at or in response to the respective clientdevice. For example, the content displayed within the thumbnail may beone or more screenshots of the recorded content, a segment of videoassociated with the recorded content, or a real-time feed (e.g.,secondary stream) of the content as it is being recorded. The one ormore recording content thumbnails 410 may be designated by variousthumbnail characteristics such as a uniquely colored or dashed border orbackground.

In embodiments, the interface 400 may include a list of scheduledrecordings 415. The scheduled recordings 415 may include programs thatare scheduled to be recorded at a central device 115, programs that arescheduled to be recorded at one or more client devices 105 within agroup of shared devices, and/or any other programs that have beenscheduled to be recorded at the request of one or more client devices105 within a group of shared devices.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a hardware configuration 500 operable tofacilitate the display of a consolidation of content being consumed by agroup of shared devices. The hardware configuration 500 can include aprocessor 510, a memory 520, a storage device 530, and an input/outputdevice 540. Each of the components 510, 520, 530, and 540 can, forexample, be interconnected using a system bus 550. The processor 510 canbe capable of processing instructions for execution within the hardwareconfiguration 500. In one implementation, the processor 510 can be asingle-threaded processor. In another implementation, the processor 510can be a multi-threaded processor. The processor 510 can be capable ofprocessing instructions stored in the memory 520 or on the storagedevice 530.

The memory 520 can store information within the hardware configuration500. In one implementation, the memory 520 can be a computer-readablemedium. In one implementation, the memory 520 can be a volatile memoryunit. In another implementation, the memory 520 can be a non-volatilememory unit.

In some implementations, the storage device 530 can be capable ofproviding mass storage for the hardware configuration 500. In oneimplementation, the storage device 530 can be a computer-readablemedium. In various different implementations, the storage device 530can, for example, include a hard disk device, an optical disk device,flash memory or some other large capacity storage device. In otherimplementations, the storage device 530 can be a device external to thehardware configuration 500.

The input/output device 540 provides input/output operations for thehardware configuration 500. In embodiments, the input/output device 540can include one or more of a network interface device (e.g., an Ethernetcard), a serial communication device (e.g., an RS-232 port), one or moreuniversal serial bus (USB) interfaces (e.g., a USB 2.0 port), one ormore wireless interface devices (e.g., an 802.11 card), and/or one ormore interfaces for outputting video and/or data services to a clientdevice 105 of FIG. 1 (e.g., television, computer, tablet, mobile device,etc.) or central device 115 of FIG. 1 (e.g., gateway device, cablemodem, server, etc.). In embodiments, the input/output device caninclude driver devices configured to send communications to, and receivecommunications from one or more networks (e.g., local network 110 ofFIG. 1, subscriber network 125 of FIG. 1, WAN 120 of FIG. 1, etc.).

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention improvesupon methods and systems for identifying content consumed by a group ofdevices. The methods, systems, and computer readable media described inthis disclosure enable the generation of an interface showing contentbeing consumed by a group of devices. A central device may gathersecondary streams of content consumed by each device within the group ofdevices, and the secondary streams may be used to generate an interfacecomprising thumbnails showing content consumed by the device associatedwith the respective thumbnail. Secondary streams of content may begenerated at the central device or may be retrieved by the centraldevice from one or more client devices serviced by the central device.

The subject matter of this disclosure, and components thereof, can berealized by instructions that upon execution cause one or moreprocessing devices to carry out the processes and functions describedabove. Such instructions can, for example, comprise interpretedinstructions, such as script instructions, e.g., JavaScript orECMAScript instructions, or executable code, or other instructionsstored in a computer readable medium.

Implementations of the subject matter and the functional operationsdescribed in this specification can be provided in digital electroniccircuitry, or in computer software, firmware, or hardware, including thestructures disclosed in this specification and their structuralequivalents, or in combinations of one or more of them. Embodiments ofthe subject matter described in this specification can be implemented asone or more computer program products, i.e., one or more modules ofcomputer program instructions encoded on a tangible program carrier forexecution by, or to control the operation of, data processing apparatus.

A computer program (also known as a program, software, softwareapplication, script, or code) can be written in any form of programminglanguage, including compiled or interpreted languages, or declarative orprocedural languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as astand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unitsuitable for use in a computing environment. A computer program does notnecessarily correspond to a file in a file system. A program can bestored in a portion of a file that holds other programs or data (e.g.,one or more scripts stored in a markup language document), in a singlefile dedicated to the program in question, or in multiple coordinatedfiles (e.g., files that store one or more modules, sub programs, orportions of code). A computer program can be deployed to be executed onone computer or on multiple computers that are located at one site ordistributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communicationnetwork.

The processes and logic flows described in this specification areperformed by one or more programmable processors executing one or morecomputer programs to perform functions by operating on input data andgenerating output thereby tying the process to a particular machine(e.g., a machine programmed to perform the processes described herein).The processes and logic flows can also be performed by, and apparatuscan also be implemented as, special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., anFPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC (application specificintegrated circuit).

Computer readable media suitable for storing computer programinstructions and data include all forms of non-volatile memory, mediaand memory devices, including by way of example semiconductor memorydevices (e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices); magnetic disks(e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks); magneto optical disks;and CD ROM and DVD ROM disks. The processor and the memory can besupplemented by, or incorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry.

While this specification contains many specific implementation details,these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of anyinvention or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions offeatures that may be specific to particular embodiments of particularinventions. Certain features that are described in this specification inthe context of separate embodiments can also be implemented incombination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features thatare described in the context of a single embodiment can also beimplemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitablesubcombination. Moreover, although features may be described above asacting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, oneor more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excisedfrom the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to asubcombination or variation of a subcombination.

Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particularorder, this should not be understood as requiring that such operationsbe performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, orthat all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirableresults. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processingmay be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various systemcomponents in the embodiments described above should not be understoodas requiring such separation in all embodiments, and it should beunderstood that the described program components and systems cangenerally be integrated together in a single software product orpackaged into multiple software products.

Particular embodiments of the subject matter described in thisspecification have been described. Other embodiments are within thescope of the following claims. For example, the actions recited in theclaims can be performed in a different order and still achieve desirableresults, unless expressly noted otherwise. As one example, the processesdepicted in the accompanying figures do not necessarily require theparticular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirableresults. In some implementations, multitasking and parallel processingmay be advantageous.

We claim:
 1. A method comprising: identifying at a central device, oneor more devices within a group of shared devices; retrieving a secondarystream of each piece of content consumed by one or more of theidentified devices within the group of shared devices; generating aninterface comprising one or more thumbnails, wherein each thumbnail isassociated with one or more of the identified devices within the groupof shared devices, and wherein a retrieved secondary stream associatedwith content consumed by an identified device is output as a displaywithin a thumbnail associated with the respective device; and outputtingthe generated interface.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein contentconsumed by one or more of the identified devices comprises contentoutput from the central device to one or more of the identified devicesand content being recorded at the central device.
 3. The method of claim2, wherein a content stream associated with a piece of content consumedby one or more of the identified devices is duplicated to create asecondary stream associated with the piece of content.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, wherein content consumed by one or more of the identifieddevices comprises content that is received by one or more of theidentified devices without passing through the central device.
 5. Themethod of claim 4, wherein the secondary stream for each piece ofcontent is retrieved from the one or more identified devices.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the generated interface is output to a deviceas a Moving Picture Experts Group stream.
 7. The method of claim 1,wherein the group of shared devices comprises a plurality of devicesserviced by the central device.
 8. An apparatus comprising: a moduleconfigured to be used to: identify one or more devices within a group ofshared devices; retrieve a secondary stream of each piece of contentconsumed by one or more of the identified devices within the group ofshared devices; and generate an interface comprising one or morethumbnails, wherein each thumbnail is associated with one or more of theidentified devices within the group of shared devices, and wherein aretrieved secondary stream associated with content consumed by anidentified device is output as a display within a thumbnail associatedwith the respective device; and an interface configured to be used tooutput the generated interface.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8, whereincontent consumed by one or more of the identified devices comprisescontent output from a central device to one or more of the identifieddevices and content being recorded at the central device.
 10. Theapparatus of claim 9, wherein a content stream associated with a pieceof content consumed by one or more of the identified devices isduplicated to create a secondary stream associated with the piece ofcontent.
 11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the secondary stream foreach of one or more pieces of consumed content is retrieved from the oneor more respective devices consuming the pieces of content.
 12. Theapparatus of claim 8, wherein the generated interface is output to adevice as a Moving Picture Experts Group stream.
 13. The apparatus ofclaim 8, wherein the group of shared devices comprises a plurality ofdevices serviced by a common central device.
 14. One or morenon-transitory computer readable media having instructions operable tocause one or more processors to perform the operations comprising:identifying at a central device, one or more devices within a group ofshared devices; retrieving a secondary stream of each piece of contentconsumed by one or more of the identified devices within the group ofshared devices; generating an interface comprising one or morethumbnails, wherein each thumbnail is associated with one or more of theidentified devices within the group of shared devices, and wherein aretrieved secondary stream associated with content consumed by anidentified device is output as a display within a thumbnail associatedwith the respective device; and outputting the generated interface. 15.The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 14,wherein content consumed by one or more of the identified devicescomprises content output from the central device to one or more of theidentified devices and content being recorded at the central device. 16.The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15,wherein a content stream associated with a piece of content consumed byone or more of the identified devices is duplicated to create asecondary stream associated with the piece of content.
 17. The one ormore non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 14, wherein contentconsumed by one or more of the identified devices comprises content thatis received by one or more of the identified devices without passingthrough the central device.
 18. The one or more non-transitorycomputer-readable media of claim 17, wherein the secondary stream foreach piece of content is retrieved from the one or more identifieddevices.
 19. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media ofclaim 14, wherein the generated interface is output to a device as aMoving Picture Experts Group stream.
 20. The one or more non-transitorycomputer-readable media of claim 14, wherein the group of shared devicescomprises a plurality of devices serviced by the central device.